Tie
by Caribbean1989
Summary: Flack and Danny find a traumatized victim on a crime scene. One-shot. Repost. Please R and R.


He first heard the call over the radio in his car, just after he had gotten back from his lunch break. All available units were being called to a bank robbery with a possible hostage situation and casualties.

"This is detective Don Flack" he said into his radio, "responding to the bank robbery call. ETA 15 minutes". He then turned on the sirens of his car and made for the crime scene as fast as he could.

Arriving on the scene Flack jumped out of his car. The place was buzzing like a beehive. The ambulance crew was already taking care of some of the injured, police and SWAT everywhere, lots of bystanders.  
Flack jogged over to the officer in charge. To his amazement this important job was given to a young officer, a rookie.

"What's the situation?" he asked the young officer. "The perps have been apprehended" the officer simply answered.  
"What about the hostages?" Flack asked. "They all walked out by themselves" the rookie said. "At least I think they did" he added softly.  
"You think?!" Flack said stunned, feeling his anger rise. "Did you check that?! Has anyone else been inside yet?! Do we know for certain that all the hostages have come out?!"  
He was really angry now, for he knew the answer before the young officer even spoke the words. "Uhm… no" the officer said hesitantly. "You moron!" Flack yelled at him and stalked off in the direction of the SWAT team, who were starting to take off their gear after having arrested the robbers.

"Have any of you been inside after the arrest?" Flack asked one of the SWAT-agents. "No" was the answer, "we ended the hostage-situation and arrested the suspects. The officer in charge is supposed to secure the scene after us".  
"Well, he didn't" Flack said darkly. "We did clear the building, it is safe to go in" the SWAT-agent called after Flack as the detective stalked away.

Flack pulled out his gun, just to be sure, and walked past the crime scene tape and into the bank. He would make sure the scene was secured and no one was left in the building.  
Inside it was silent, but total chaos. Everywhere were forgotten belongings of the hostages, blood on the floor. He could see dozens of bullet casings, the robbers had spent many rounds. There were bodies, at least five people were dead.  
Careful not to destroy any evidence, he walked further into the bank. It was such a mess…

Suddenly he registered movement from the corner of his left eye. He quickly turned and aimed his gun at it. He immediately lowered it again as he realized what had moved. Or rather _who_ had moved...  
On the ground lay a young, black-haired woman, curled up and covered in blood. Her arms covered her head and from the shudders going through her body Flack could tell that she was crying, but she made absolutely no sound.  
"Oh, my G…" Flack began to say, but didn't finish his sentence. He quickly put his gun back in its holster and closed the space between himself and the woman with two large strides. He knelt down beside her to have a better look at her condition.

"It's okay, you're safe" he said, tone soothing. He touched the woman's shoulder by way of comfort, but she immediately shied away from him.  
"I'm sorry" Flack said, raising his hands in apology, "it's going to be alright. I am detective Flack, I'm with the NYPD. Can you tell me your name?"  
Slowly the woman moved into a sitting position. She kept her head bowed, so Flack could not see her face.  
"M... Mary…" she stammered out. "Are you hurt, Mary?" Flack asked her. She raised her head and looked at Flack for the first time.

For a moment Flack was taken aback by the similarities in their appearances: jet-black hair, bright blue eyes, tall, athletic features. He kept looking at her. "Are your hurt?"  
She nodded weakly. "I think I broke my ankle" she murmured. Automatically Flack looked down at her legs to search for the injury. One of her ankles had a dark-blue colour and was already quite swollen. It appeared she was right about it being broken.

Flack took off his tie and wrapped it tightly, but carefully, around her ankle, making it impossible for the joint to move anymore and preventing it from damaging any further. Mary winced when he did this, but made no comment.  
"Let's get you to an ambulance" Flack said and made to help her to her feet.  
"No!" she suddenly screamed out hysterically. "No, no! I cannot leave him here, I cannot leave him here alone…" Her hands were grabbing at one of the bodies lying close to them. Flack had not yet paid much attention to the dead.  
"You were with him?" he asked her softly, looking down upon the body of the young man lying on the ground. She nodded, tears now rolling down her face.  
"He's… my brother" she choked out and started to sob uncontrollably. Flack leaned towards her, carefully trying to wrap his arms around her in comfort. This time she did not shy away from him. On the contrary, she flung her arms tightly around him and buried her face in his shoulder.

Flack could hear her sobs, muffled by his shoulder and feel the shudders going through her under his arms. He looked at the body of her brother. Flack could see three bullet holes in his back. The blood covering Mary clearly came from her brother.  
"What's his name?" Flack asked her carefully. "Mike" she answered, raising her head from his shoulder and attempting to wipe her tears away.  
"We need to get you to the ambulance, they need to tend to you. I promise you, my colleagues will take good care of Mike. I know them, they are the best you can find" Flack told her.  
Mary looked at Flack for a long time, tears still rolling down her cheeks. Finally she nodded slowly.

Suddenly they were startled by a sound from behind them. "Flack?" came Danny's voice, "yo, Don! I know you are here some…" Danny stopped mid-sentence when he saw Flack sitting on the ground with Mary. "Sorry" Danny said, looking at Mary with a worried expression on his face.  
"Danny" Flack said, "help me get her to an ambulance. Her ankle's broken, she can't walk on her own".  
Danny walked over to them and knelt down next to Flack. "Mary", Flack said, "this is detective Danny Messer". Mary looked up at Danny and gave him a weak smile in welcome. Danny could see that beneath the mask of grief she now wore, she was a beautiful woman.  
"Are you ready?" Flack asked Mary softly. "Almost" she answered, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

She leaned into her brother's body and pressed a kiss on his cold cheek. "I'll always love you… and one day… I will see you again" she whispered, fresh tears spilling from her eyes.  
Flack felt like he was intruding on a very personal matter which was not meant for him to witness. She had just watched her brother die in front of her eyes and was saying her last farewells to him. He shouldn't be here for this.  
Looking sideways at Danny, Flack saw that he felt the same way. Together they stared at the ground, allowing her this moment.

"I'm ready" Mary said after a little while, voice thick.  
Flack and Danny positioned themselves on either side of her, each slinging one of her arms over their shoulders, so she would not have to carry her weight.  
Very slowly they made their way to the exit. Several times Mary looked back over her shoulder, not able to say a definitive farewell to her brother. He could not be dead, it just couldn't…

Once outside, an ambulance crew immediately rushed forward when they noticed the two detectives helping an injured person out.  
Flack and Danny sat Mary down on a gurney in one of the ambulances, medical personnel instantly attending to her.  
"Is there anyone I can call for you?" Flack asked her. "My parents should not be far away, they would come to pick Mike and me up" she said. Her voice broke at the end of the sentence. She gave Flack her phone, "their numbers are in there".  
Flack excused himself and walked a little away to make the call, leaving Danny alone with Mary.

Slowly, shock and realization of what had happened started to take the better of her. Tears were now constantly running down her cheeks, she was shaking and stared into empty space.  
Danny watched the young woman fall apart in front of him. He thought of his own brother, Louie, who had been very close to death a couple of years ago. But Danny had not actually lost him. Mary had. He could not even begin to imagine the pain she must be feeling now...

Danny just sat next to her in silence while holding Mary's hand, hoping it would comfort her a little.

Flack re-appeared in the ambulance after several minutes. "Your parents will be here in a few minutes" he said. Mary did not give any notion that she had heard him. Flack gave Danny a worried look. He too realized that she was in bad shape.  
In silence they waited with her. It wasn't long until her parents came running up to her and together they grieved for their fallen son and brother. Flack and Danny excused themselves, letting the family be.

They knew Mary would soon be called in to give her statement of tragedy in the bank. Hopefully she would be able to provide the necessary information to convict the suspects.

The doors of the ambulance were closed as the paramedics prepared to bring their patient to a hospital. Flack and Danny watched as the sirens were turned on and the ambulance drove away from the scene.  
Today they had watched two young lives being destroyed. One was ended forever, the other would never be the same, would never be whole again.  
"You know" Flack told Danny, "sometimes I see victims or relatives of victims and I just know they won't make it. They can never be as they were before, never live their lives to the fullest again".  
"Yeah" Danny said, "I know what you mean… she is one of them…"  
Flack nodded, for Danny had indeed said what he had been thinking. "So sad…" Flack added softly. 

* * *

****

One year later

Flack walked into the squad room. He had just signed off on a case and was actually hoping to end the day a bit early for once. But when he walked back in, he could see a person sitting in the chair opposite his desk. It was a black-haired woman, with her back to him.  
"Great…" he muttered darkly. He did not really feel like picking up a new case this late during his shift, but it seemed he did not have a choice.

"Can I help you, miss?" he said, when he had nearly reached his desk. The woman turned around in her seat to look at him. Flack stopped dead in his tracks. This was the last person he had been expecting to see today….  
"Mary" he said amazed, shaking her hand and sitting down on his desk-chair. She looked radiant: her black hair shining, eyes sparkling, colour in her face. Flack noticed what a pretty woman she actually was.  
"How are you? How's the ankle?" he asked. He had not seen her again after she had given her statement to him some days after the robbery.  
"I'm doing quite well actually and so is the ankle" she answered, "but I did not come here to show you that I am managing to go on with my life. I have actually come to return something to you".

Flack gave her a puzzled look, for he could not remember giving her something of his. "Really?" came his confused reply. Mary smiled as she saw his confusion.  
From a small plastic bag she pulled his tie, the one he had tied around her broken ankle for support. "You probably do not even remember that you left this with me" she said softly, handing the tie to him. Flack took it from her, looking at it with a sudden surge of sadness.  
"That tie has meant a lot to me" Mary told him, "it showed me that someone cared about me that day. That I was not alone… that there was still hope left in this world".

Flack looked up at her. He felt utter admiration for this woman. She had been through hell and was still able to smile.  
"Today, at the university, we got an assignment" Mary began, "to do something that you have regretted not doing. My mind immediately went to that tie and how I should return it to you, tell you how much that gesture has meant to me. I didn't think I would have the courage to actually do it, but, now, look at me! I am actually doing this!" Flack could not help but stare at her. "So, from the bottom of my heart… thank you" she finished. "You're welcome" was all Flack could think of saying.

For a moment Flack was not able to utter a single word. Were those tears he felt stinging in his eyes?  
He could not explain why he had become so emotional over a bloodied up tie that he lost a year ago. Perhaps it was the story behind this tie…

"What are you studying?" Flack asked Mary, realizing she had said something about a university.  
"I'm in the Police Academy" she said. Flack looked at her in surprise, "that's great!"  
"After what happened I wanted to be able to make a difference. I decided that I wanted to help people the way you have helped me" she said. Flack nodded his approval to her, "I wish you all the luck in the world".

Slowly Mary rose from her chair. Flack stood up too, "I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again one day" he said to her. She nodded, "me too".  
"Thank you, once again, for all that you did for me" she said, "please pass my thanks on to detective Messer as well". Flack nodded, "will do".  
They shook hands again, their eyes meeting in a wordless goodbye.  
"Take care" Flack said to her. "You too" she answered. She gave him one last smile and walked out of the squad room. Flack kept looking at her until she had disappeared from his sight.

He had been wrong about this victim. He had thought she would never be right again and he knew that somewhere there would always be a piece missing. But there she was, doing absolutely fine.  
He smiled to himself. Never before in his life had he been more relieved and glad that he had been wrong. 

* * *

****

Thanks all for reading :-)  
All reviews are appreciated!


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